Coco Gauff is the tennis celebrity of the instant, but she won’t forget about these that came prior to her. Immediately after turning into one particular of the only teenagers to at any time get the U.S. Open on Sept. 9, Gauff took some time to mirror on how Serena and Venus Williams paved the way so that she could assert the prized trophy. And Gauff’s dedication to the Williams sisters was very heartfelt and meaningful.

Gauff pulled off a really remarkable victory in opposition to Aryna Sabalenka at the 2023 U.S. Open up on Sept. 9, battling back again immediately after dropping her first established to win it all. At 19 decades old, Gauff is the first American teen to gain the illustrious match given that Serena Williams in 1999, for each Deadline. Notably, she also received in a identical trend as Williams, who also fought again just after initially shedding the 1st set in the finals.

In her article-victory press convention, Gauff was asked what it feels like to see her name emblazoned on the trophy together with the Williams sisters, and the celebrity gave the phenoms their bouquets.

“They’re the cause why I have this trophy today, to be straightforward,” Gauff explained. “They’ve authorized me to consider in this dream. Expanding up, there weren’t as well several Black tennis players dominating the activity. It was just them at the time that I can remember, and naturally a lot more arrived mainly because of their legacy. It manufactured the dream much more plausible. All the matters they experienced to go via, they made it simpler for someone like me to do this. You look again at the historical past of Indian Wells with Serena, all she experienced to go by. Venus, preventing for equivalent fork out. It’s ridiculous and it’s an honor to be in that similar lineup as them.”

Serena Williams was elated to celebrate Gauff’s major get on Instagram, sharing a image of Gauff holding the trophy and writing, “Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!! Incredible!!!!!!!!”

And Williams was not the only major title singing Gauff’s praises. Barack and Michelle Obama the two shouted out the 19-yr-outdated tennis champ on social media, and Gauff’s Instagram write-up with her trophy amassed congratulatory remarks from celebs like Zendaya, Ellen Pompeo, Madelyn Cline, Latto, and Maitreyi Ramakrishnan.